Australian Ninja Warrior has crowned it’s first winner, and fans were less than impressed.
Charlie Robbins is the unlikely hero of the Channel Nine show, who was the fastest to compete in Monday night’s second grand final.
The 68kg golf fanatic was able to reach the “floating doors” obstacle before Josh O’Sullivan, Bryson Klein and Daniel Mason.
WATCH: Charlie Robbins faces backlash after winning Australian Ninja Warrior
“I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was four years old, and I started training on ninja-specific obstacles about two, two-and-a-half years ago. When I was growing up, I played pretty much every sport — footy, cricket — but I ended up sticking with golf and gymnastics,” Robbins told news.com.au.
Fan-favourite Ashlin Herbert, unfortunately, fell in the early stages of the grand final, slipping from the “Salmon Ladder.”
Herbert attempted to continue along the course despite his disqualification, forcing presenter Freddie Flintoff to awkwardly beg him to stop.
The win by goofy Robbins left viewers in shock, as musclier contestants like Jack Wilson and Ryan Solomon were tipped to win.
“It was pretty funny talking to people — everyone said, ‘Oh we thought you were going to do terribly and fall off on the first obstacle, but you absolutely smashed it!’,” he told news.com.au.
The Ninja Warrior winner said that his weight was his advantage and that a muscular physique didn’t necessarily guarantee any contestant the title.
“I think being fairly lightweight is an advantage — and having a gymnastics background helps heaps. I don’t think putting on as much muscle as you can is necessarily going to help you,” he said.
Robbins took home $100, 000 and is the first person to win the competition, as previously, awards were not given out unless the course was finished.
After receiving backlash from fans for “anticlimactic” finishes, this season of Ninja Warrior meant a winner would be crowned whether or not they finished the course.
Fans have since taken to Twitter to slam the show, with many arguing that the win was a “scam” considering he didn’t complete the course.
“I feel cheated,” one Twitter follower said. “You can’t seriously tell me Charlie is this fit just by being a golfler,” another user claimed.
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